At its core, Jesse Armstrong’s drama “Succession”, is very very far from a comfort show. Lacking the typical hallmarks of a comfort watch- easy plotlines, silly humour, and loveable characters- it’s a peculiar choice of entertainment at many times, but particularly peculiar as a reliable fallback when times are tough. Despite this, there are very few moments in my life where an episode of Succession won’t help.
The show follows the Roy family, who love money and control fractionally more than they love each other. Across the seasons, the Roys attempt to fill the power vacuum left when Logan Roy, conglomerate and media mogul, appears to step down as CEO of the family company, Waystar Royco. Aside from the pure entertainment value of watching characters occupy a world so insanely different from yours, I think the real comfort element of Succession is actually the opposite of this. No matter how far away you are from the world of billionaire businessmen who fraternise with presidents and wrestle for control of the biggest source of news in the Western world, certain aspects of relatability remain at the heart of the show: all relationships are hard, messy, and wrought with emotion. Whether in boardrooms or bedrooms, some human experiences are simply universal. So, no matter what situation I am weighed down by, it’s a real comfort to know that the fights, the awkward moments, and the lows, are truly shared. Even with fictional billionaires. And not only are these moments laid bare in the show, but often worsened by the crushing pressure of controlling one titanic media company. The problems of the Roy family onscreen then make mine pale in comparison.
Coupled with the biting, clever, and occasionally crude dialogue between characters, Succession is genuinely witty on top of its intensity and emotion. This result is whiplash-inducing episodes which oscillate between emotionally tense and heightened court scenes, and absurd one-liners and bits, including the masterful “you can’t make a Tomlette without breaking some Greggs”. So, despite violent clashes between Tom and Greg mere moments earlier, audiences cannot help but embrace the absurdity of the weird, filthy rich, and tumultuous world of Succession’s Roy family.
